The Meaning of Loyalty
by Latios381
Summary: John Brown meets his new colleagues, Charles Grey and Charles Phipps, the ones who will 'probably' work with him for the rest of his life. Little did he know that they were the oddest lot around. The three will become the Queen's guards, no matter what...
1. Meeting Charles Grey

**AN: Finally, I edited this! I admit, I was being so lazy to write! *shot***

**For those who read this before, I rewrote several parts, mostly during the beginning.**

**This fic is set around the time when John, Grey and Phipps are chosen to be the Queen's butlers/guards. I set this in 1885.**

**About the ages: in here John is 16 years old, Grey is 15 and Phipps is 17 (this is around 2-3 years before the series began - I have no idea of how old they actually are, but I take it they are a lot younger than they look)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroshitsuji, John or any Charles (damn it!)**

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><p><em>Friday, 13th April 1885 11:00h<em>

Once more, John Brown laid on the bed of 'his' dark bedroom, contemplating the ceiling as if it weren't there. He couldn't sleep well at all, things still seemed surreal for a reason, just...

How had he come this far...?

John was one of the fifteen men who had endured the training that would decide who would serve Her Majesty as butlers (which possibly involved doing a number of jobs he'd rather not to think about at the moment). The recruitment for it was lead by England's most well-known men (and woman) for their bravery and services. Among them were Marchis and Marchioness Middleford and Her Majesty's three near-retirement butlers. He wondered who'd be guarding Her Majesty while they were away, but that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that _he _would be taking one of their places.

At first, 200 people had been selected according to their age, gender - several women tried to enter the system, even though only men were allowed - , background, criminal record and health. A letter was sent home to the chosen men, explaining when and where they should go.

After that first selection, military training took place for a month, during which the numbers were cut to 100. Over the next three weeks, the numbers had been reduced to 50, then 25 and then to 15. Only one more stage was left, only one more he'd have to win.

The last fifteen men were at the moment staying in the castle that held the training grounds, a majestic white residence owned by a rich duke; next to it was a dark and intimidating forest, that had been declared off-limits to them.

They were required to wear special clothes - light grey shirt and beige trousers with black boots and gloves. It made them feel like they were in a prison (a feeling which only got worse whenever the Marchioness spoke to them).

Glasses, watches and all kinds of personal objects weren't allowed to use. They didn't allow anyone with a bad eyesight in, and the only man who insisted on wearing sunglasses (an intimidating-looking man) had been forced to take them off.

Now the important thing in John's mind was that in two days time he would face the sixth and final part of the selection – survival and team work. Today he would find out who would be on his three-man party.

He didn't want to lose any more time (the papers were set to be posted in the rest hall at exactly 11:00, and it was already 11:02), so he headed to the boards on the main hall of the enormous building where the rest houses were. And there they were, those papers could decide his life, depending on whether he had good or bad partners. John hadn't even noticed he was running to them, as if they would run away if he didn't hurry. He checked them, searching for his name. As he found it, he read the names of the two other members of his team.

_**Team C**_

_John Brown_

_Charles Grey_

_Charles Phipps_

Oh perfect, two Charles! The good news were, those two were rather strong and two of the favorites to winning. The only thing to worry was if the rumors about their 'peculiar ways' were true. Charles Grey was also the youngest of the finalists. Chalres Phipps was a mysterious kid who usually hung around with Grey, with a deep smoothing voice uncharacteristic of his young age.

As far as he knew, the last fifteen were chosen by hand by the supervisors and each seemed to have a different favourite skill. Swords, daggers, axes, hammers, whips, chains, and a creepy man even liked to use a scalpel as a main weapon.

He himself preferred a whip – it gave him great accuracy, power, speed, and a distance advantage, enabling him to hit his foes' feet at a distance, making them trip and thus ending the battle as easily as that (and it was fun!). The whip also gave him good defence – able to throw out the daggers and curl the chains. Probably he would be able to easily beat the scalpel guy and the hammer guy by hitting their hands and taking their weapons away from them. The axes and swords were a different thing though. He admitted he had never fought against any of those, but he would get the hang of it in no time.

He was so lost in his thoughts about his wonderful whip that he didn't notice someone behind him until a pale hand touched his shoulder. The other guy was already speaking even before John turned around to face him.

"Hiya! I'm Charles, Charles Grey. Nice to meet you, John!"

John turned around to face the guy who seemed to know who he was. And just like he had pointed before, this kid indeed was Charles Grey. He had chin-length white hair with a small patch at the back longer than the rest. His aura inspired calmness. Maybe it was the whiteness of his hair and pale skin, and not even the military uniform could take that calmness away from him. He was smiling cheerfully, something rarely seen in a competitive environment like the one he was in, where everyone was against everyone. John also noted how 'small' his body seemed, it gave off a fragility aura that could make one think he would shatter if he were to fall.

"Do you want to have lunch with me? I'm feeling soo hungry and my partner Phipps said he'd have to go somewhere else!"

It was John's turn to smile. Meeting his partners before the main event would only be beneficial to him. After all, trust was essential for survival. But this guy seemed to trust him too much – they met in a second, and he already invited him for lunch?

"Sure... Charles."

_***** Two hours later*****_

"Phew... I'm full!"

John looked incredulous as Grey ate his (hopefully) last plate of food and called for the maid to come. He ate twelve plates of curry! Twelve! Along with sixteen glasses of wine. Was the boy crazy or some sort of human sponge? Yet he was talking normally, not even showing any signs of drunkenness, his voice wasn't even blurred at all!

"You want the bill already? We have time, you know? Why don't you wait a little-"

"Oh no, no. I'm asking for dessert, obviously," at that point John knew it. Charles Grey really was the weird person he was rumoured to be. Now all he needed was to meet Charles Phipps, the mysterious guy. He seriously just hoped he would be normal.


	2. The Haunted Forest

**This is posted along with the edited first chapter. I also want to thank everyone who reviewed! You guys rule!^^**

'_Why is it taking so long?'_

The anxiousness was almost killing John from the inside, he felt like he was going to explode: his entire life, everything that could happen from that day onwards could be decided by his performance on the final stage of the selection.

Since it was a survival test, it obviously meant working as a team to survive. Marquis Middleford would explain the details the day after tomorrow (he hoped that the Marchioness wouldn't speak, she already scared and scarred him to death). It was pretty much a mystery: no one knew what was going to happen and what kind of task they'd be given. The supervisors could have simply told them the specifics of the finals, but those bastards must have decided _'why don't we just let those kids shit themselves waiting for the last day?'._ He could almost imagine them having a drink and laughing on their faces.

'_I wish I could have a drink right now.'_

The day before he had just met one of his teammates, which sincerely scared the heck out of him by drinking 16 glasses of wine. 16. Glasses. Of. Wine. And he didn't even _balance_ when he got up! Lucky...

It was the middle of the night, but John couldn't sleep anymore, so he got up and decided to go for a walk. After getting himself ready and combing his hair properly he went out, even though he was sure it was around 5 in the morning. He just couldn't sleep anymore.

'_No matter what happens, at least __**I**__ will know the territory around me. Getting lost will seem like a very likely possibility so I'd better be ready.'_

By getting lost, John meant 'getting lost in that nearby forest, most likely the place where the last eliminatory will take place'.

Yes, he knew something bad would occur, and it would be on that forest. And somehow, _something_ told him that bad things would happen, because bad things always happen when you have life dreams that can be so easily crushed. John remembered Grey again, and how he didn't seem one least bit nervous. He looked so joyful and carefree, not even a hint of uncertainty for the fact that he'd go to an unknown place to fulfil an unknown job, with an unknown outcome. It was hard not to feel some sort of envy towards him, but he was a good kid and from what he knew, quite skilled with his thin sword.

As he opened the door of the building, he was immediately welcomed by a string of ice-cold air and almost regretted opening it. Heck, he regretted even getting up! But he just _had_ to check the nearby forest and he was very sure that the overseeing officers would take all advantages from it. 300 meters ahead of him and past the magnificent gardens the forest rose majestically, all of its dark glory released an aura of elusiveness.

He decided he was going to close the door after all and return to bed, but something from behind him held it in place.

"Oh, come on, John! Let's check it out, two are better than one!" The trademark sparkling smile of Charles Grey announced his presence against the darkness, shining almost as much as his hair.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping? You realize it's still 5 in the morning, right?"

Grey looked surprised at the slightly older boy.

"You're awake too."

John nodded, "I was thinking of checking the forest and exploring it a little."

Grey's face suddenly turned serious, "I'll go with you. I wanted to go before, but I didn't want to go alone and Phipps didn't want to go with me." He walked past John and faced the cold night ahead taking a deep breath of fresh air while staring at the forest, "It looks a bit daunting, doesn't it?"

"Daunting?" John looked at the forest. Indeed, it sent chills up his spine ever since he saw it for the first time as a potential death place. "It looks like every tree branch will try to strangle us, you think it's just a _bit_ daunting?" John let out an amused chuckle.

As Grey walked ahead of him, John noticed he wasn't wearing the mandatory military uniform; instead he was wearing a simple black coat with his sleeping clothes underneath. _If he gets caught with that around here, he's in trouble_. As he remembered one of the rules of the organization, everyone had to wear the uniform outside their dormitories. But then again, there was also a rule that didn't allow them to leave the dormitories after midnight, so being caught just wasn't on John's plans. However, he still wore the military uniform in case he was caught: instead of being caught breaking two rules, he only broke one.

As they walked towards the forest, they heard a noise coming from it. Grey, who had taken the lead, stepped back, letting John on the lead.

"Did you bring your whip? I'm unarmed."

"Of course I did. I wouldn't go explore without any weapon, would I? Why didn't you bring anything, are you crazy?"

Grey didn't answer. Instead, he pouted. "I wasn't even expecting to get near it, but I saw you and thought you would bring protection. And I was right. Take the lead."

In the moment John stepped on the forest's first set of trees, a rush of white passed through him, running. A big white wolf stopped and studied them for a moment and resumed its frantic run again. John noticed he had several long cuts, the blood flowing easily as if the cuts were precisely made for that purpose. They didn't look like normal wounds a wolf would get in a fight.

Which probably meant they weren't alone.

Looking at Grey, the older boy noticed his baffled expression. He was probably thinking the same.

"What kind of monster would have done that?"

John agreed. Indeed, what kind of person would do something like that without a reason? He was going to answer, but Grey kept talking.

"Maybe a werewolf did it. In two days it's full moon, and that will be the night that we will spend here during the mission..."

John was bewildered.

"Werewolves? And what grants you that we will be spending the night here, the thing starts during the morning, we could always go home sooner."

"Don't tell me you're the kind of person who doesn't even acknowledge the existence of beings other that humans. And I'd like it if we could finish our business here in some few hours, but I doubt it will be the case."

"You... doubt?"

"My father told me that they were planning on something long that had to do with endurance, so I take it that he means this will be long, right?"

John had thought about that possibility before, but wished it wouldn't be the case. Unfortunately, since Grey's father said so it must be true. How unfair, that some people had help and others didn't.

As if reading his thoughts, Grey answered him with a 'I'm not cheating' look and told to keep going.

They walked for a minute until John heard Grey behind him talking quietly, almost to himself.

"I think we shouldn't exclude the logical possibility of ghosts appearing, even if Dad said it was impossible..."

"Ghosts?"

Grey gave a slight jump and looked at John weirdly, "Huh? Huh? Ha, nothing, I was saying that there's always a possibility of being ambushed in the middle of the night. It would be logical if other teams would try to eliminate us."

"Hm." They didn't have much else to say, so they kept walking in silence.

Wanting to get distracted from the dead silence and cracking leaves under his feet, he decided to ask Grey a little more.

"Does your father know a lot about this tournament?"

"One of Her Majesty's butlers is my grandfather, and my father is involved in the food supply, so they know. I asked them if I could cheat, but they didn't let me, how unfair!"

"Ha, I think it's fair enough," John smiled, amused.

Their talk was kept short as steps became noticeably closer. Taking his whip out and putting himself in front of Grey, the pair waited.

"So this is where you were, Grey."

Out of the shadows, a large figure faced them, covered in blood. Grey's eyes widened in shock.

"Phipps!"

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><p><strong>AN: Not much action, but it's just getting started, right? But still review, please? :3<strong>


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